Fuel handling systems on aircrafts include tubing assemblies that have sections of metallic and/or non-metallic composite tubing coupled to one another by adjustable connectors. The systems can include support devices that attach the tubing assemblies to aircraft structures, such as wing structures, which move and vibrate relative to other aircraft structures during all flight conditions. The adjustable connectors permit tubing fitted therein to move and vibrate, thereby permitting the associated aircraft structure to move without applying additional loads to the same or restricting its normal motion.
Moreover, typical fuel handling systems further include an electrical bonding system, which safely conveys electrical charges that are generated, stored and would build in the adjustable connectors and associated fuel handling components. In particular, lightning strikes and the conveyance of fuel through the tubing could create an electrical potential between the tubing and the aircraft structure, which could result in an electrical discharge in the form of a spark that could damage certain aircraft components. The electrical bonding system electrically connects the adjustable connectors and remaining fuel handling components to the electrical bonding grid of the aircraft. In this way, the electrical bonding system can safely convey the electrical charges forming in the fuel handling systems to the aircraft's bonding grid and thus preventing any associated sparking.
The adjustable connectors facilitate the conveyance of fluid, while permitting tubing movement and vibrations and the safe conveyance of electrical charges, when the adjustable connectors are properly installed in fully engaged positions and remain fully engaged during all operation of the aircraft. Installation of these adjustable connectors can require access to a significant number of narrow spaces within aircraft structures. In this respect, it can be somewhat cumbersome to handle and operate the connectors within these narrow spaces to install the connectors. It would therefore be desirable to provide a bulkhead connector assembly that can require only single-hand operation for connecting and disconnecting the corresponding tubing sections of a fluid handling system.